Rutgers' Mason Robinson (24) loses his helmet after a hit by South Florida's Fidel Montgomery (14) and Mark Joyce, left, on a first-quarter attempted punt return during an NCAA college football game Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. Robinson fumbled the football and South Florida recovered. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

PISCATAWAY — The most viewed game in Rutgers history came on Nov. 9, 2006. That game, like Thursday’s showdown in Piscataway, pitted Louisville against the Scarlet Knights. Mason Robinson and Khaseem Greene, then a senior and a junior in high school, respectively, were watching. Robinson was in the stands. Greene was parked in front of a television set. Both saw Rutgers topple Louisville, then No. 3 in the land, 28-25, in an outcome that helped vault the Knights toward the national forefront. Moreover, the win helped secure a commitment from Robinson, who on Thursday night will be expected to help Rutgers repeat the outcome from six years ago.

“During the recruiting process, they said ‘What are your topfive schools?’” Robinson recalled. “I put Rutgers out there just to be generous. Then, as it kept going, they began to grow on me with the winning and everything and the coaching staff and the players and stuff. That game just put it over the top for me.”

The sixth-year senior cornerback has a chance to be part of a game of superseding magnitude. A Rutgers win against Louisville tonight would give the Knights their first Big East Championship and send them to their first BCS bowl.

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As was the case with Robinson, Rutgers (9-2, 5-1) could volley recruiting in its favor by shining in the national spotlight again.

“I think when we went to the first Bowl game in 2005, that helped,” said head coach Kyle Flood. “I think when we had really the first 10-plus win season in 2006 and won our first Bowl game, I think that helped. I think going to five straight Bowl games helps. I think winning your first Big East title this year, that will help.”

None of that helped with Greene.

He had no intention of being a hometown hero for Rutgers when he went to Elizabeth High School and wasan impartial viewerof the game against Louisville. Greene has become one since.

That crystalized last year, when he won Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year after recording 141 tackles, fifth in program history.

This season, Greene has helped Rutgers win at least its first share of the Big East title.

A share isn’t good enough for Greene, though. He wants it all.

“We don’t want to share. Sharing is not a good feeling,” Greene said. “I know first-hand from last season sharing Big East (Defensive) Player of the Year, it was horrible. It was almost sickening.”

Louisville (9-2, 4-2) is the only thing standing in Rutgers’ way of winning the title it has failed to harness for 21 years.

This isn’t Flood’s first time coaching a big game. It began with C.W. Post in the 1996 ECAC Bowl against Bentley, when Flood coached the offensive line.

“That was our Super Bowl,” Flood said. “That was everything to us.”

The stakes were bigger when Flood was assistant head coach at Delaware in 2003.

“We’re 14-1 and we’re playing Colgate for the national championship and we win the game, 40-0,” Flood said. “That was everything to that coaching staff and those players.”

When it comes to a Rutgers program that has never been in this position before, this game is a new everything.

Some more notable programs have greater standards than conference championships, but the Knights must use this game as a stepping stone for an even greater everything.

Until then, this game could mean the difference between confronting the hatred of sharing and making an national name for Rutgers football.

Rutgers never knows which future Knights could be storming the field.

“It was really big,” Robinson said of the 2006 victory. “That day was the first time I ever purchased a Rutgers item. That day I bought a Rutgers shirt. … From there, I just kept going.”